Elena Rybakina (Twitter)
We should be in for an exciting contest when two Grand Slam champions, Elena Rybakina and Bianca Andreescu face off in the first round of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion started the season by playing in the Adelaide International 1 where she defeated Danielle Collins in the first round but lost to Marta Kostyuk in the following round. In the Adelaide International 2, Rybakina crashed out in the first round following a loss against Petra Kvitova. Rybakina went on to play in the Australian Open where she reached the finals for the first time. Her power-packed game impressed everyone throughout the tournament. In the finals, she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in a memorable encounter.
Rybakina entered the Abu Dhabi Open as the 3rd seed and received a bye into the second round where she ousted Karolina Pliskova. Rybakina lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals after winning the first set.
The 22-year-old began the season by defeating Garbine Muguruza in the first round of the Adelaide International 1. She couldn’t build on the win as she lost to Veronika Kudermetova in the following round. In the Australian Open, Andreescu lost to Cristina Bucsa in the second round. In the Thailand Open, Andreescu produced her best result of the season as she made it to the semis. However, her semi-final clash ended on an unfortunate note as she retired after suffering an injury while trailing 5-7, 0-4 against Lesia Tsurenko.
The 2019 US Open champion returned to action at the Abu Dhabi Open. However, she couldn’t progress beyond the first round, losing to Yulia Putintseva in straight sets 6-7 (2-7), 2-6.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-0 in favor of the Kazakhstani No. 1. She managed to defeat Andreescu in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 in the second round of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina to win in three sets.
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